It’s common (as an attention-getting device I guess) for businesses, etc., to alter the spelling of certain words, e.g., Foto for Photo or E-Z for Easy; but by far and away the most popular transformation is for words beginning with a hard “C” to acquire a “K” instead. Can anyone tell me why this is so, and when did the practice start?
Because the ‘real’ spelling has already been copyrighted.
I can’t tell you when it started…
But the simple reason, I believe anyways, its that it draws attention to itself. And that is the basic idea behind it. It is the same reason why some companies spell their name or clever slogans with their telephone numbers… You are more apt to remember something slightly out of the ordinary than a just a sequence of letters/numbers…
Your subject heading looks like it was influenced, in some part, by a Simpsons episode where Krusty the Klown has his Kristmas Spectacular at the Apollo Theatre with obvious tragic comedy results. I love the Simpsons. 
It’s obvious that such businesses (Krispy Kreme,etc.) are all affiliated with the Klan and probably have secret handshakes and whatnot that you must use to get a discount.
There’s also the fact that German and Russian tend to substitue k for hard-c. So you can use it to deliberately make your word sound totalitarian; e.g, Amerika.
That certainly makes me wonder about Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Are they a plot to take over the country and put glazed-doughnut supremacists in high-level positions? You never know
I personally try not to buy things from this sort of establishment. I have a rule about places being able to spell their own names. Would you let a “Kar Kare Senter” fix your car?
LL
Don’t be ridiculous. Of course we know if it was a plot. Worked out pretty nicely, too 
Kartooniverse
FWIW, Levi-Strauss & Co. once used the name “Koveralls” for a line of baby and toddler clothes they were marketing; I think this was over 100 years ago.
Brand names are deliberately misspelled because you can’t trademark a word in common use found in the dictionary.
It was also trendy for a short time in the fifties to substitute K’s for C’s, hence the Kit Kat Klub (the then-famous jazz club, not to be confused with the strip joint of today) and Big Daddy Roth’s Kustom Kandy Kolors, a line of wild car paints for those who love Kustom Krazy Kars.
I used to like to use this Kontrivance myself, I did an animated student film called “The Kung-Fu Kommikazie Kommandos”, and only later was it pointed out to me what the initials were. Oy!
Let’s not forget OK, short for “Oll Korrect,” a facetious alteration of “all correct.”
That dates to … 1839 per my Web. 10. An old fad, in any case.
Though isn’t that in dispute? Some sources say OK = Oll Korrect, some say OK = Old Kinderhook, referring to president van Buren.
It is my belief that “Krispy Kreme” is so spelled because the product is neither crispy nor does it contain cream (it is more a soggy ball of dough surrounding a mixture of lard and sugar). I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re spelled “doegnutz.”
Let’s see what the master has to say about the origins of OK.
Keith
Let’s not forget KOA Kampgrounds which I always referred to as “Ku Klux Kampgrounds”.
Thanks! I shoulda known this question had been addressed…
Who cares, as long as everyone remembers that those inbred racist rednecks are spelling “Clan” wrong (thank GOD), and they have nothing whatsoever to do with the Scottish Clans.
People sometimes get the wrong idea when I mention going to a Gathering of the Clans. This is not the same thing as a “Klan gathering”. Kilts, not bedsheets.
Makes me wanna go smack a bigot upside his head. Of course, any time is a good time for that.